Nirbhaya Gangrape Case: President Rejects Pawan Gupta’s Mercy Plea. What is Next?

Technically, Pawan can appeal against the President's rejection of his mercy plea like Vinay did a few days ago. Vinay's petition was dismissed. Once Pwan's petition also gets dismissed in the Supreme Court, there will be no obstacle unless some new complexities crop up.

New Delhi: Pawan Gupta, the convict of 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case who so far didn’t take legal routes to challenge his execution, has finally exhausted his legal remedies as the President rejected his mercy plea on Wednesday. With no pending cases, it seems the way to their execution is finally clear.

So, what is next? Technically, Pawan can appeal against the President’s rejection of his mercy plea like Vinay did a few days ago. Vinay’s petition was dismissed. Once Pwan’s petition also gets dismissed in the Supreme Court, there will be no obstacle unless some new complexities crop up.

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court disposed of a petition seeking directions to the National Human Rights Commission to inquire about convicts’ health. It has asked the petitioner to approach NHRC directly, without any HC order.

It’s unlikely that an order from the Human Rights Commission would again delay the execution unless another court case is filed based on that.

On Monday, the March 3 hanging of the four convicts — Mukesh, Akshay, Vinay, Pawan — was postponed on Monday as Pawan Gupta’s mercy petition was pending before the President.

The court early on Monday had rejected Pawan Gupta’s curative petition. Soon, his advocate filed a mercy plea to the President. Since he is the last of the four convicts whose all legal courses have not been exhausted, another petition was moved to the Delhi High Court against the alleged inhuman behaviour with the inmates.